Government Implementation of the Standard Rules
As Seen By Member Organizations of
Inclusion International - ILSMH

Costa Rica

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© Dimitris Michailakis 1997

Inclusion International, Costa Rica
No reply was received from the Government of Costa Rica.
Compare with the following Country Report(s): DPI, WBU, WFD

General policy

The officially recognized disability policy is expressed in guidelines adopted by the national disability council. The emphasis in this policy is on rehabilitation and prevention.

Since the adoption of the Rules, the government by means of various measures, has conveyed the message of full participation.

Legislation

The rights of persons with disabilities are protected by general legislation. The judicial mechanism adopted to protect the rights of persons with disabilities includes due process (legal remedy through the courts) and recourse procedure by a special agency dealing with anti-discrimination issues. Non-judicial bodies include an Ombudsman.

Accessibility

There are no rules to ensure accessibility of the built environment. The following measures have been promoted by the government in order to facilitate accessibility in the built environment: levelling off pavements and marking parking areas. There is no special transport for persons with disabilities. The most difficult obstacles, when planning to build accessible environments, are attitudinal factors, economic/budgetary factors, technical factors, lack of legislation and regulations, lack of planning and design capacity, lack of knowledge, research and information and lack of enforcement mechanism. There is no disability awareness component incorporated in the training of planners, architects and construction engineers.

Sign language has no officially recognized status. There are no government measures to encourage media and other forms of public information to make their services accessible to persons with disabilities. No services are provided in order to facilitate information and communication between persons with disabilities and others.

Organizations of persons with disabilities

There is a national umbrella organization. There are no legal provisions mandating the representatives of persons with disabilities to participate in policy-making or to work with governmental institutions. Organizations of persons with disabilities are sometimes consulted, when laws and regulations with a disability aspect are being prepared. Consultations occur at the national level. The government gives organizational/logistic support to organizations of persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities participate to a very limited extent in government, legislatures, judicial authorities, political parties, and NGOs. The role of organizations of persons with disabilities is to advocate rights and improved services, contribute to public awareness and provide services.

The adoption of the rules has led to a rethinking of the approach to disability policy.

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